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Copy bug in Word X

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Clyde

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May 6, 2002, 1:32:18 PM5/6/02
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The only replies I've received from my post on weird brackets appearing
are from people who have the same problem and are equally baffled...at
least I'm not alone.

The problem: When a selection is made and copied to the clipboard, Word
v.X places ugly, heavy brackets at the beginning and end. These brackets
cannot be selected and do not print. They don't seem to show up until I
switch to another prgram and then return to Word. The only way to make
them disappear is to delete everything within them; changing the font
makes no difference. Never had the problem in previous versions.

The solution: ????

Mike Taylor

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May 6, 2002, 4:58:34 PM5/6/02
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Clyde,

I'm not sure from your description of 'ugly' brackets... But if they are
curly brackets { } , then you may be seeing field codes. Next time you
encounter one, right click (or control-click if you have a 1-legged mouse)
in the middle of it and select 'toggle field codes'. This switches between
the field code and the value represented by the field code. You may also
want to check your Word preferences under View/Field Codes. If checked, it
will display the code rather than the value in the window (although it will
print using the value).

Hope this helps.

Cheers - mike

On 5/6/02 1:32 PM, in article 1fbre6t.14omyq9nq5xf3N%cl...@clydesoles.com,

Clyde

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May 6, 2002, 5:21:36 PM5/6/02
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Nope. The brackets are the squared type but the ends are a tad longer
than when I type and bold a bracket (next to P on the keyboard without
shift key). Also, field codes is unchecked in preferences. Thanks for
trying!

Mike Taylor <mi...@comtechmobile.com> wrote:


--

Mike Taylor

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May 6, 2002, 7:42:57 PM5/6/02
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Clyde,

Ok - there may be one more thing to check out. When I hover over
'bookmarks' checkbox in preferences/view, the explanation window at the
bottom mentions that bookmarks are enclosed in square brackets.
Furthermore, they are not usually displayed in the document or in print
(unless Bookmarks is checked). It was checked in my preferences (probably
by default). If you toggle this and it goes away, then at least you would
know if it was a bookmark phenomenon. Of course, that would still leave you
to troubleshoot how you are generating bookmarks by simply cutting and
pasting.

FWIW, I tried a couple of cut/pastes in a v.X document with bookmarks
checked and didn't see anything that resembles your issue.

Let me know if you find a solution.

Cheers - mike

On 5/6/02 5:21 PM, in article 1fbrp2r.14v6jj31vbm8h3N%cl...@clydesoles.com,

Clyde

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May 6, 2002, 8:39:56 PM5/6/02
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Ah ha! It was checked by default...unchecking hid them. I now see that I
can delete them one at a time in the Insert Bookmark window, not that it
matters. It is weird that Word is creating them on its own (it names
them "OLE_LINKS#") but at least I don't have to look at them. Word Help
tells me that OLE is something for sharing with Excel and Power Point,
which I didn't install and will never use.

Thanks!

Mike Taylor <mi...@comtechmobile.com> wrote:

> Clyde,
>

John McGhie [MVP -- Word]

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May 6, 2002, 9:42:25 PM5/6/02
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Clyde:

It depends upon how you paste. If you paste by default, Word can sometimes
(depending on the source of the text) paste an Object Lining and Embedding
link to the original. That's what you are seeing.

Word v.X pastes HTML by default. That (to me) is very annoying, because it
often does a very poor job: HTML in Word v.X does not fully express some
kinds of information.

By using Edit>Paste Special, you can see other options for pasting format,
depending upon what you have on the clipboard.

I have made a macro that I place on my Insert key that forces a paste as
"Plain Text", which then adopts the format of the destination (surrounding)
text. You can't use it for things like tables, because it converts them out
of being tables, but when the material on the clipboard really is text, I
find it useful.

Hope this helps

--

Please post all comments to the newsgroup to maintain the thread.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:jo...@mcghie-information.com.au

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